Thermic Fluid Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Global Thermic Fluid Market is projected to register a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period (2021-2026).

The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. Thermic fluid finds its major application in petroleum refining, food and beverage, and the chemical processing industry, where it is used as a medium for transferring heat in heating and cooling systems. Considering the pandemic scenario, the petroleum refineries units had cut their production throughput as the demand for fuel decreased by about 30-40% globally during the lockdown. For instance, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, with a refining capacity of 5 million barrels per day of crude oil, had cut its crude oil processing by about 30-40%, leading to a decrease in the consumption of thermic fluid used at the petroleum refining facilities. Furthermore, during the lockdown, various chemical manufacturing activities were stopped temporarily, reducing the demand for the studied market. However, the demand for pharmaceuticals products increased during the pandemic, enhancing the demand for the market studied.

Key Highlights

• Over the short term, the increasing demand from the oil and gas industry where thermic fluids are used extensively to carry out the operations and the increasing uses of concentrated solar power are expected to drive the market's growth.
• On the flip side, volatility in raw material prices and unfavorable conditions arising due to the COVID-19 outbreak are expected to hinder the market's growth.
• The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global thermic fluid market share, owing to the presence of the largest refinery throughput capacity, along with the significant global presence in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

Key Market Trends

Extensive Demand from the Oil and Gas Sector

• The extensive use of thermic fluid in the oil and gas industry is increasing incessantly to cater to the rising energy demand.
• The oil and gas industry carries out major operations, such as oil and gas processing, natural gas purification, refining, gas to a liquid, asphalt processing, and storage, etc., with the use of thermal fluid.
• Thermic fluids are used during natural gas processing, mainly at stages like gas sweetening, glycol dehydration, and fractionation train. At the gas sweetening and glycol dehydration stage, the regenerators present there are heated with a boiler, which, in turn, is heated with the help of thermic fluid. Furthermore, at the fractionation train, thermic fluid is used to heat the reboiler, present at each distillation column.
• According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the global consumption of Natural gas accounted for 3,929.2 billion cubic meters in 2019, with a growth rate of about 2% compared to 2018, enhancing the demand for thermic fluid during natural gas processing.
• Thermic fluids are also used in the refining processes. They are used as a medium for heating reboilers of fractionation units and overhead cooling condensers, among others. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the total refinery throughput in North America accounted for 18.98 million barrels per day in 2019, with a decline rate of 1.3% compared to 2018, which had reduced the demand for thermic fluid from the refinery sector.
• According to EIA, the average crude oil production in the United States accounted for about 11.3 million barrels per day in 2020, down from 12.2 million barrels per day in 2019. The production is expected to reach 11.1 million barrels per day in 2021 and 12 million barrels per day in 2022, which, in turn, is expected to stimulate the demand for the studied market in the coming years.
• The prospectus for the future development of the oil and gas business recommends that oil exploration will proceed to develop in the long term, and at the same time, the utilization of thermic fluids. Moreover, more penetration must be done per unit of oil, as hydrocarbon discoveries become less productive with time.
• Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to significantly impact the thermic fluid market in the coming years.

The Asia-Pacific Region to Dominate the Market

• The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global thermic fluid market share. This can be attributed to the presence of a large number of petroleum refining, pharmaceutical, and chemical manufacturing activities in the region.
• According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the total refinery throughput in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 30.30 million barrels per day in 2019, with a growth rate of 2.2% compared to 2018.
• Additionally, Asia-Pacific significantly contributes to the production and consumption of natural gas. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, the total consumption of natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 869.9 billion cubic meters in 2019, with a growth rate of about 4.7% compared to the previous year.
• Thermic fluid also finds its application in chemical processing and petrochemical manufacturing facilities. Some key chemical processing facilities that have heat transfer systems as an integral part of their processes include phthalic anhydride (PA), dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), linear alkylbenzene, terephthalic acid (PTA), olefins, plasticizers, alcohols, and other chemicals processing facilities.
• According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the Indian chemicals industry was valued at USD 178 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach USD 304 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 9.3%. The demand for chemicals is expected to rise by 9% per year by 2025, which is expected to enhance the demand for thermic fluid from the Indian chemical industry in the coming years.
• Some other end-user industries that use thermic fluid for the heating and cooling applications at their processing facilities are pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, concentrated solar power, among other end-user industries.
• Food processing facilities use various heating and cooling systems based on both liquid- and vapor-phase thermic fluids for various applications, including food additive manufacturing, vegetable oil deodorizing, food packaging production, among other applications.
• According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the sales value of food and beverage wholesale in Japan was valued at about USD 450 billion in 2019, with a decline rate of about 2.5% compared to the previous year.
• Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to significantly impact the thermic fluid market in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape

The thermic fluid market is partially fragmented in nature. Some key players in the market include Eastman Chemical Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, HPCL, and BP PLC.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support